Rear Ride Height Dilemma

[llangston1]

After refreshing my suspension on my '87 carrera with new ER rubber bushings all around, 21/28 mm TBs and Bilstein HD/sport shocks I finally have the car on the ground and need to start adjusting the ride height. I tried to index the rear spring plates for the euro height using the online calculator and came close. When measuring the ground to fender arch distance I got 24 7/8" on the left side and 25 3/8" on the right. Can this be adjusted out with the spring plate height adjusting wrench or do I need to reindex one side or the other and try to catch another TB tooth. I visually "recentered" the spring plate height adjustment cams when I replaced the large bushings so they may not be exactly the same. Any suggestions? I hate to have to take apart the suspension and do it all over again if that is not necessary. I do plan on getting a corner balance and alignment after I get the basics set up. Also on the front my distances were ~26 1/2". Can I take all that out with the front adjusters to get to the desired euro front height?

[na2ub]

Check you camber on all 4 wheels. Camber differences make a noticible height difference. I think you can get up to 1/2 inch out of the adjustable spring plates, but if I were you I would just reindex the Tbars in the back. Leave the spring plate adjustments for cornerbalancing. Plus, once you've done it, it is not all that hard. For the fronts, you can try with the adjusters, but you might need to re-index the caps there too. That is a piece of cake. I would not feel comfortable with my adjustment bolts almost all the way out / in. Leave those for fine tuning / corner balancing too, somewhere in the middle.

[LJ851]

Is the ground you are parked on Dead flat? A small amount of non flatness can make a noticeable difference in ride height. I like to go by the angle of the spring plate disconnected from the trailing arm at full droop, about as good as you can get w/o a corner balance imo.

[wildcat077]

Do yourself a favor and reindex while keeping the eccentrics as neutral as possible ...
I spent a whole afternoon fiddling with the right rear over 1/4 inch !

At least if you ever go to corner balance your car it will have enough adjustment that you won't have to remove the TBars again.

Cheers!
Phil

[scotricker]

I congratulate your correct spelling of dilemma

[trak ratt]

Front and back ride height are interdependent. Don't fool with the backs untill you have the fronts where you want them. When the front is set the backs will be entirely different anyway. Front re-indexing is relatively easy.

[aston@ultrasw.c]

Taking it apart and doing it all over again isn't that bad it's the 10th time that sucks!

[llangston1]

My garage floor is pretty level from side to side. From front to rear there is a slight fall of ~1/4 bubble on my spirit level.

[llangston1]

Ok after getting the front ride height close to spec the rear ride height settled in at just about 25" +/- 1/16" or so. also i see wheer what everyone on the forum call the euro height is actually what is considered the spec in the Bentley manual. So how do you adjust the rear height using the spring plate adjusters? Can it be done with the car on the ground or do you have to jack it up, adjust the eccentrics and then let it down to see how close you got? Do I need to disconnect the rear sway bar while I am doing this fine tuning of the rear height? 25" on the fender arch still looks a little high. Can you go a little lower without having clearance problems using stock 16" Fuchs, no spacers, stock tire sizes? What sort of clearance between the top of the tire and the fender arch is considered acceptable for a street car?

[DRACO A5OG]

Originally Posted by aston@ultrasw.c

Taking it apart and doing it all over again isn't that bad it's the 10th time that sucks!

Try 50 times, sorry I'm a bit OCD, needed that correct Camber in the rear

[wildcat077]

Don`t go by numbers as every car is different,a good rule is being able to pass your your hand and stopping at the knuckles between the rear tires and fender arch and being able to pass your hand with knuckles over the front tires ...
It all depends on how stiff,fresh your suspension is but in your case it all seems new so you shouldn`t have any rubbing issues !

Cheers!
Phil

[dad911]

Originally Posted by llangston1

Ok after getting the front ride height close to spec the rear ride height settled in at just about 25" +/- 1/16" or so. also i see wheer what everyone on the forum call the euro height is actually what is considered the spec in the Bentley manual. So how do you adjust the rear height using the spring plate adjusters? Can it be done with the car on the ground or do you have to jack it up, adjust the eccentrics and then let it down to see how close you got? Do I need to disconnect the rear sway bar while I am doing this fine tuning of the rear height? 25" on the fender arch still looks a little high. Can you go a little lower without having clearance problems using stock 16" Fuchs, no spacers, stock tire sizes? What sort of clearance between the top of the tire and the fender arch is considered acceptable for a street car?

You really should get a basic alignment & corner balance after doing that much work. You could have the ride height correct, but the car weight jacked.

How low (without rubbing)you go depends on how stiff the suspension is, and how much camber you have.

[aston@ultrasw.c]

X2 on corner balancing.

Don't spend too much time on ride height, it will all change once you get it on the scales. Unless you actually enjoy farting around with the eccentrics

If you have the stock sway bars you can leave them connected for balancing, which is less than optimum, of course. If you have adjustable drop links disconnect them and reconnect when you are all finished without imparting any load on the suspension.